Need help getting a gps for a mount.

Hi. I just picked up the celestron cg-5 go to mount and I was considering picking up a gps device for it. It seems that celestron has discontinued a model that went with this mount. My question is are there any other models that any :confused:one can recommend? Are gps worth it? Thanks a million!

I use a USGlobalSat BU-353 receiver and a small application called GPS2ASTAR (Gps To AutoStar) to send GPS location and time data to my LXD75. I would not be surprised if someone in the Celestron world has a similar application....

The real cool part is, this little gizmo cost about $35.00, and I can use my field laptop to send GPS data to the mount.

Why get one dedicated to only a mount? My cell phone has a GPS in it and I can use it to get a current location anywhere. It's easy to enter the coordinates into a hand controller or computer program. Your phone's "current time" should also be accurate to a few seconds.

I think the main attraction with using a GPS is the chance of error. You know, Coordinate E/W, N/S, typing error etc.... it is especially a problem for people not familiar wit the coordinates system.

Also, some mounts are a bit cryptic about how the handle the annotation for N/S, E/W... using +/- signs to annotate. So yes, a GPS could be a good idea for some users, although every single mobile phone i have purchased for the past 4 or 5 years has one.

The StarGPS looks like a better deal, but I don't like how the unit plugs into the hand controller and the AUX port on the mount. Now there is a loop of wires to catch.

Sky Sync is expensive, but it looks like it plugs directly into the AUX port on the mount without having to connect to the hand controller.

I'm looking at one of these, too. I have mis-entered the time and wasted a setup routine with my CG-5 twice now. I do not have a GPS phone or tablet, so when I go to a different site, I have to look up the coordinates before leaving home. Not that hard, but I can imagine driving 2 hours and then realizing I forgot the note...

The StarGPS may win for the price point. I can always hook it up until it does its thing and then disconnect and put it away. The Celestron model would be less of a hassle, though.